Google Safe Browsing Blocks Ads That Have Fake Download Buttons

The Internet is vast and loaded with information that is very useful, but also contains many tricky websites and traps that trick users who are unsuspecting.

Social engineering is a reference to the number of ways in which certain websites trick individuals into clicking a bad link and/or downloading items that they were not intending to download.

Google has pledged to fend off the scams of social engineering with its Safe Browsing and it is now expanding that feature to combat the fake download buttons.

Safe Browsing can be found on Goggle’s browser Chrome and Android, displaying a screen with a warning to notify users when they are going to visit a site that is harmful.

Google also has shared the information security through an app safe browsing, that works with Safari from Apple and Firefox by Mozilla.

In addition, to helping protect users from the malicious website attempting to trick them into handing over credentials or to install malware that is disguised as something safe. Google’s Safe Browsing is now going after embedded content.

Such scams using embedded content target ads and are tougher to battle against because they generally integrate right into the Internet page.

They replace content that is legitimate and look as if they are a real part of the page, but it is nothing but show.

In simple terms, the embedded content is able to take the form of an ad and attempt to trick users into installing new updates or apps that are non-existent.

A very common form of embedded content looks like a download button, and often times is placed just beneath, or just next to the real button for downloading or even a link.

When the fake buttons also match the website theme in question, they are that much harder to distinguish and manage to trick that many more users.